


The Balance Restored: A Star Wars Retelling

by reylomine



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, M/M, Retelling, Reylo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22102507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reylomine/pseuds/reylomine
Summary: After the defeat of the Battle of Crait, the forces of the rebel Resistance dispersed: the allies seem to have vanished and all hope seems lost. General Leia Organa plans to bring back some old friends but to do so she needs Rey, the Last Jedi, capable of restoring hope to the Galaxy after her brother's sacrifice, Luke Skywalker.But Rey is not the Jedi everyone needs: her training is not completed and the ways of the Force are still inaccessible and full of obstacles for her. But there is still something that she can't figure out, and it will be better to fix it quickly before the final battle against the evil First Order ...Meanwhile, the new Supreme Leader Kylo Ren is grappling with internal tensions in the First Order: General Hux has increasingly pressing doubts about the death of the Supreme Leader Snoke. Complicating the situation is the arrival of the Knights of Ren, who have doubts about Kylo's loyalty to the Dark Side of the Force.But a new threat looms on the horizon: a mysterious signal comes from the Unknown Regions, bringing the message of an armed force called "the Contingency", which has declared war, but not only to the First Order but to the whole Galaxy.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Episode IX - The Balance Restored

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that English is not my native language. Therefore, I'm really sorry if you find any mistakes. If you do, please write them down in the comments so that I can fix them as soon as I can. Thank you.

_It's time to act! After the defeat of the Battle of Crait, the last remaining forces of the RESISTENCE came together in order to reorganize their rows. LEIA ORGANA attempts to reestablish the broken contacts with her old rebel allies. In the meantime, the young Jedi apprentice REY tries to learn the ways of the Force with the help of the Sacred Texts._

_At the same time, the new Supreme Leader KYLO REN is struggling with the increasingly pressing tensions within the FIRST ORDER: in addition to the suspicions of GENERAL HUX, is added the arrival of some old acquaintances, the terrible KNIGHTS OF REN._

_But from outer space comes a mysterious signal: a new armed force, the CONTINGENCY, has just declared war not only on the First Order, but on the entire_ _GALAXY_ _..._


	2. The Knights of Ren

The rhythmic sound of the heavy steps of the Knights broke the strict silence in the hallways of the Flagship, mixing with the clang of their metal weapons, their armours and the masks they wore on their faces. Their dirty boots and their dusty cloaks screamed badly with the aseptic cleanliness of the floors. The accumulated dirt on their masks – dirt of years, if not even decades old – didn’t allowed the metal to shine under the white lights hanging from the ceiling.That was not their place, it was obvious.

«Knights of Ren» muttered a Stormtrooper, when the group overtook him and his partner.

« _Demons_ » she corrected.

With his ears perked, Armitage Hux heard well the tone of contempt and hatred in their voice and, in part, he felt pleased. Leading the group, the General was not at all comfortable but he clearly had to make up for it, given the circumstances. His role inside the First Order was increasingly precarious with each passing day. The other officers still had some respect for him and – Hux was hoping for it – maybe a little bit of awe towards him. But the relationship with the new Supreme Leader was increasingly turbulent: they always detested each other because they have always been in competition to be in Snoke’s graces and if he hadn’t killed him yet, it was thanks to the old Leader, that always managed to stop him.

In order to keep him quiet for a while, his only hope was to make a good impression on the Knights. It was somewhat difficult for him: to Hux the Knights seemed rough, coarse and primitive. They had nothing in common with the strict First Order discipline he had been used to since childhood, but if he wanted to keep his head where it was, he was willing to do anything. Or at least, almost anything.

«The Supreme Leader has not yet been notified of your arrival» he announced without turning around, walking. He gave no particular inflection to his own voice: his sentence had the sole purpose of informing the Knights. «I think he'll find it a pleasant surprise».

«Kylo never finds our visits pleasant» one of the Knights said, his voice heavily modified by the modulator of his mask.

«Good» Hux murmured, almost pleased by the news.

They walked for a while through the hallways, in a heavy silence. After each step, the frustration of the Knights increased, Armitage felt it on his own skin. There was no need for them to talk: the negative sensations they radiated where enough.

«We have arrived» Hux informed them at the end. He knew the Supreme Leader was busy with a tactical meeting but he didn’t care at all. The mere idea of interrupting him to give him an annoying inconvenience was very pleasing for him.

He went to the panel pext to the door and entered his personal code, adding the usual three final numbers to indicate the access of guests not yet registered, as per protocol. The door hissed open, a barely whispered announcement of their arrival.

General Hux entered the room. The people sitting at the table in the middle of the room turned their heads, while he advanced and the Knights followed him immediately behind. Hux looked around: he recognized the officers, each of them, but Kylo Ren was not sitting in his place. He looked better, fearing for a moment that he had not correctly guessed the position of the Supreme Leader, but then he saw him: he was from behind at the end of the room, and he was observing the emptiness of the space in front of him. Had he heard them come in? Did he have to do something or say something?

«Supreme Leader…» the General tried, in a muffled voice.

«I felt you coming» Kylo Ren’s voice said. The modulator inside his helmet modified his voice, exactly like that of the Knight. His helmet had been reforged almost a year before, immediately after Snoke's death.

Hux still did not understand if his choice was due by the desire to appear more authoritarian or by the attempt to hide something.

«The Knights of Ren…» the General kept saying, trying to announce the visitors and their requests.

«Everyone get out of here» the Supreme Leader's severe voice broke out again.

The officers jumped up from their chairs. Some picked up the papers in front of them, others rearranged the chairs under the table. They all came out in strict silence, passing by the Knights with their heads down. The Knights, for their part, watched them pass by tilting their heads, as if intrigued by such docility...or amused.

«I said everyone» Kylo Ren said, turning around. If there were still eyes behind that mask, they turned to Armitage, who had remained still in his place.

«Supreme Leader» he said. «I am one of the highest-ranking officers and you will surely remember the respect the previous Supreme Leader had towards me ...».

«Snoke is gone» Kylo's voice coldly interrupted him. «Get out of here».

Hux fixed his eyes on the masked face of the Supreme Leader. He felt the anger and grudge mounting inside him, the same ones that had been bubbling in his veins for years and that he had always kept inside. «With all due respect, Supreme Leader...»

His throat closed suddenly. Nothing - neither his voice nor the air - seemed capable of passing through it. His lungs contracted painfully. He raised a hand to his throat in panic. It wasn't the first time this had happened, it wasn't the first time that Kylo had reacted that way. But each time it always seemed like the first one: terrible and frightening. Each time, Hux remembered how silly he was compared to Kylo Ren. And each time, Hux's anger and resentment grew out of all proportion, so much that he was surprised that Kylo had not yet sensed them.

«I said: get out of here» the Leader's voice hissed.

General Hux nodded with difficulty. Kylo's deadly grip vanished. He lowered his head and quickly left the room, passing by the Knights of Ren with his head down.

✴ ⭒ ✴ ⭒ ✴ ⭒ ✴ ⭒ ✴

Kylo Ren followed Hux's movements with his eyes until the door closed behind him. After that, he shifted his masked gaze to the Knights.

They hadn't changed in the past few years. They were always the same: dirty, patched, run down...armed to the teeth. One of them tilted her head to the side, a movement that Kylo found curious.

«Kylo Ren» she said, taking a few steps forward in his direction. She removed the weapon she was resting on her shoulder and slammed it violently on the table. «Or should I say...Supreme Leader?»

She came closer. Kylo didn't move. He was not afraid of the Knights. Not anymore.

«What am I supposed to do now?» The Knight's voice mocked. When she was near she raised her chin, in a proud attitude. «Should I bow?»

The two of them looked intensely at eachother from behind their respective masks. Kylo cocked his head slightly to the side. «Don't be ridiculous, Vicrul».

Vicrul's head moved slightly, but it was such an imperceptible movement that Kylo was surprised to have noticed it. The woman's hands went up, leaning on the sides of her mask. The fingers closed on its edge: she lifted it, revealing her face.

A messy bob of dark purple hair, so dark it looked black, fell around a grey-skinned face. Vicrul smiled, but there was no joy or kindness in that smile. «I see your mask has been broken and rebuilt» she said, her voice cold, mocking. «What happened, Kylo? Did it slip out of your hands while you were on the stairs? »

«An accident»

«The little Jedi?»

«No» The voice came out even before he could stop it. He only thought later that it would be much easier to blame Rey...the Jedi.

«Oh…» Vicrul said, widening her eyes. There was no distinction between the iris and the pupil: her eyes were only two purple discs. «It was Snoke».

Kylo was silent. If he thought about it - which he had actually already done - it was Snoke who had pushed him to destroy his own mask. But somehow, Snoke was also responsible for its reconstruction.

«That’s it, then…» Vicrul shook her head, her smile turning into a crooked grin. «Snoke never liked your mask. He said it made you look like Vader, and that you weren't like him».

«And we never liked Snoke» added another Knight.

«Ushar is right» Vicrul continued.

«So imagine our surprise when we heard the rumour that he was dead, killed by a Jedi that nobody knows about, who managed to fight and defeat not only his fearsome Praetorian Guards, but also you...»

Kylo was silent once more, but not for long. He could sense the Dark Side in Vicrul, an indomitable, rough force, which she could not control and which therefore crept in everywhere. He knew how the woman let herself be carried away by emotions, by moments. It wasn't a feature he liked about her. «The girl is powerful in the Force» he replied, without getting upset. « She was trained by Luke Skywalker».

«We don't care about the Jedi. But at least we're happy to know you killed Skywalker» Vicrul replied. «We want you to understand our surprise in learning that Snoke was dead and that the command of the First Order, the role of Supreme Leader, had been taken by no less than Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren. It was…unexpected».

«There was a vacancy».

«We clearly haven't expressed enough our contempt for Snoke» Vicrul began to walk towards him. «That coward and false creature. He promised us training in the Dark Side, and all he gave us was a bad reputation and a mediocre Jedi as a Master…»

Kylo drew his lightsaber. In the grip of sudden anger, he threw himself on Vicrul but that had already drawn another weapon, another lightsaber: red, like the blood just spilt. Their weapons collided in midair, Kylo's sparking everywhere. Behind him, he heard the other Knights draw their weapons.

«Then you didn't soften as I feared, Kylo» Vicrul said, grinning with her sharp teeth. «I had my doubts».

Kylo withdrew his sword. «Where did you find the crystal?» he asked, his voice flat. Although he was genuinely curious about the answer, he would never stoop to prove it. «How did you build the lightsaber?»

Vicrul continued to smile. She looked at her lightsaber with ecstasy, she twirled it between her long, tapered fingers, hidden under her gloves. «It's amazing how many kyber crystals are still in the Galaxy» she replied, her voice absent as if she had been thoughtless. «We looked for many, you know? Snoke told us to do it. We destroyed them all, as per orders, but I...I kept one. And I made this lightsaber».

«How?»

«With lots of inventiveness and a bit of luck» Vicrul gave him a mischievous smile. «I looked at your lightsaber for a long time before you became Snoke's full-time lap dog. It seems strange, but I was really listening to what you were saying».

She approached him, but Kylo did nothing to get away even though she still had her lightsaber drawn. He was tall, much taller than Vicrul, so she had to get up on her tiptoes to reach his ear - or at least where the ear should have been, under the mask. «The funniest part was making it bleed» she whispered, with a little laughter at the end of the sentence.

Kylo looked at her. He had always found Vicrul a little crazy, too excited, but never at those levels. In those years many things must have happened, perhaps too many. The fact that she was able to build a lightsaber by herself worried him. It was a difficult thing to do: he himself had taken a long time to build his own. Vicrul could not be endowed with such an extraordinary talent: there had to be something underneath. But for that moment, he still didn't know what.

«Did you destroy them all?» Kylo asked.

«Yes, at least the reachable ones» Vicrul withdrew her lightsaber and she hid it again under her cloak. «People says that there are others in the Outer Rim. We are still looking for them».

Kylo Ren nodded. He knew that finding information about the crystals had to be difficult for someone who hadn't had contact with the Sacred Jedi Texts. In there, thousands of generations of Knights of the ancient order had scrupulously collected information regarding the crystals and the main planets on which to find them. Kylo, when he was still a young padawan, had recovered his own on Mygeeto. When he had abandoned his lightsaber, he looked for another.

He hadn’t seen his first lightsaber since then. He guessed that Luke Skywalker had destroyed it years ago.

«Ren» said the voice of one of the Knights. They were moving, placing themselves around the table, surrounding both him and Vicrul. «We didn't come here to talk about the crystals».

«No» said another. Kylo recognized Kuruk's modified voice. «But about your decision».

«Exactly» Vicrul added. «Snoke is dead. You are our Master and you knew that we had never loved him. We should have all taken over together. But since you have proclaimed yourself Supreme Leader...»

«The First Order would have never accepted you as Leaders» Kylo replied.

«We know it» Ap’lek answered.

«We are not interested in the affection of the Order. We wanted power, we wanted to be able to destroy every single planet that still stands for the New Republic» Vicrul's last words were full of hatred, of poison. «But now you are the Leader. We can not do anything with it. We can only hope for your...benevolence».

He didn't answer. He didn't move a muscle. At that moment, Kylo was thinking. The Knights had not reached his Flagship for nothing: they had come with a specific purpose and it was certainly not to congratulate him on his hated "promotion". No, there was more below. They would never accept his leadership, he was sure of that. Not if they hadn't been able to take advantage of it.

«What do you want?» he asked.

Vicrul smiled, turning to her companions with a victorious expression. Then, with pride in her purple eyes, she returned to look at the black mask, cracked with red, of the Supreme Leader. «We want more freedom of action» she said languidly. «Before, we only followed Snoke's directions, like slaves».

«We want the permission to kill the Jedi» Ap'lek's cold voice interrupted her. Kylo gave him a quick glance, hoping Vicrul wouldn't sense his apprehension through the Dark Side.

«Yes...» Vicrul's laughter was insane and terrible. «We want to find little Jedi, and when we do...we'll wipe out her and her stupid order» She gave him a knowing look. «I'm sure the Jedi Killer won't have anything against it, isn't it?»

Kylo's heart was beating faster than usual. He could not explain why. Supporting their request...wouldn’t have meant undermining his authority? He was convinced so, but on the other hand, he knew that sooner or later he would have to face the problem of Rey...the Jedi. He didn't know if that was the right way. But on the other hand, he would never have found the courage to do it himself.

«Okay» he replied, chasing away his thoughts, and his doubts as well. «Permission granted. Find the Jedi...and kill her».

**Author's Note:**

> This is a complete retelling of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. All the events that happened in the film have no value within this story.


End file.
